The Cochran Firm Legal Blog

Media stories about the H1N1 swine flu virus have created something of a rush for the flu vaccines. It has turned out that not enough vaccines were made to fill the demand, and media stories have declined. The medical laboratory Quest Diagnostics has done more than 142,000 swine flu tests and reports that requests for those have declined since late October.

Besides vaccines, there have also been medications for the H1N1 flu, one of which is called Tamiflu. It is designed to either prevent or treat the infection. A news report has appeared of a California mother, one Wilma O’Neil, getting some Tamiflu from Walgreens for her five-year-old daughter. She was given the correct bottle but no Tamiflu was in it. Instead there was a heart medication called Amiodarone, designed to treat heart arrhythmias.

Amiodarone was FDA-approved in 1985 but reluctantly. It has some serious side effects:

• Interstitial Lung disease
• Thyroid gland abnormalities
• Corneal vision defects
• Liver problems
• Skin discoloration

The FDA approved it under pressure from the European drug companies and did not conduct its usual clinical trials.

Tests For Heart Damage

Walgreens discovered the mistake and called O’Neil. They advised her to take her daughter to a hospital if she had ingested any of the medication. O’Neil did that and two electrocardiograms were done, both showing heart irregularities. Now O’Neil must take her daughter, Ellen, to a heart specialist to learn whether any damage was done to Ellen’s heart.

Walgreens issued a prepared statement saying: “We're sorry this occurred and we apologized to the family. We have a multi-step prescription filling process with numerous safety checks in each step to reduce the chance of human error.”

Medical malpractice claims can be brought against pharmacies as well as against physicians, nurses, X-ray technicians, etc. All healthcare professionals are expected to abide by established rules of conduct and levels of patient care.

If you or a loved one has been injured by a medical error, you may have a valid legal claim. Please contact our medical malpractice lawyers today if you would like to schedule a free case review. We have offices in all states to serve you.

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